A Mercenary's Life
by TwilightSymphony
Summary: The life and times of Rukia Kuchiki, mercenary band member! There is no starship fast enough, no cooking scary enough thanks to Orihime , no star too far to discourage this band of bounty hunters! Pairings: Ichiruki, Ulquihime, Hitsuhina, maybe StarkHali
1. Chapter 1

Here it is, my sci-fi Bleach story! I hope you all like it, and that it works out well. Note: Some technology may be from various other sci-fi movies, games, etc. So, I disclaim all technology that came from another source now, and any other ideas that are not my own. Also, I'm not sure about the title, so tell me if it sucks. All right, here we go!

Disclaimer: I Don't Own Bleach.

* * *

Stars. Stars surrounded her, and everyone around her. They were all she knew, despite her thirst for more knowledge. For know, she would have to be content with the stars. Rukia Kuchiki sat, as she usually did, staring out of an observation window of the space station that was her home, into the infinite speckled blackness that was space. She was smiling, daydreaming about all the planets and stars she would see for herself, one day.

Little did she know that that day would come quicker than anyone suspected.

* * *

Hisana saw Rukia looking out the window and sighed to herself. She wished that she could give Rukia wonders that she, herself, had never known, The wonders of her home planet, Fubuki. Fubuki was a small, beautiful planet that was always covered in snow. The people of the planet were peaceful, and did not fight often. When they did fight however, the snow would bleed a deep crimson red. Hisana had never seen Fubuki, outside of books and holograms that she had read. The snow toughened the people, and, when they developed interstellar flight, they were welcomed by a great many different cultures and races.

Though, not all other planets welcomed them with open arms.

Fubuki really only had one major enemy, and that was the planet of Kai. The planet of Kai was their opposite in almost every way. Their planet was covered in fire, and lava, and the people were violent, and did not welcome outsiders. It was the same with the people of Fubuki. But, the two had a grudging respect for one another, untill Fubuki was attacked.

The people were caught completely off guard, cities filled with women and children, were turned into smoking piles of lava. The military knew that they could not save their poor planet. Instead, they used an experimental warp gate technology, and saved many people. The space stations that made it through the gate linked together, and the GSS, the Grand Survivor Station, was made. The GSS was, essentially, 4 or 5 stations put together, making a huge ring around a center station. There was one thing that puzzled Hisana most of all though, after the attack, the allies of Fubuki demanded that Kai be punished, or, at least help rebuild Fubuki, however, Kai denied all knowledge of the attack, and refused to be punished for crimes that they didn't commit. What puzzled Hisana was that Kai's people, while they were many things, were not—

"Nee-San!" Hisana's thoughts were interrupted by Rukia running up to her and hugging her legs. Hisna smiled and ruffled her little sisters hair. She didn't get to see Rukia very much, as her duties as one of the two leaders of their "country" (The space station that their ancestors arrived on.) kept her quite busy. She sometimes hated being the Sode-no Shiraiyuki of her country, but, she enjoyed protecting people, and so, it was a sacrifice she would allow. She gasped, startled as a second pair of arms wrapped around her.

Behind her, stood the proud Senbonzakura, Byakuya Kuchiki. He was the other leader of the country, and also Hisana's husband. He smiled at her, and down at his little sister as well. (I KNOW! Byakuya SMILING! But, he hasn't lost Hisana so, yeah.) The family all joined hands and Byakuya and Hisana walked down the hall, swinging Rukia with them.

* * *

Rukia awoke, gasping for breath and tears forming at her eyes. She broke down and sobbed quietly into her mattress. The happiest memories are often the saddest. She looked over to her desk, where her three most precious possessions lay.

The first was a photo of her family, the three faces smiling at her. The two others were the two objects that had been thrust into her hands from dying ones. Her tears fell faster as she remembered Hisana and Byakuya, bloodied and torn up, pushing her into the ship, and giving her the two weapons, Senbonzakura and Sode no Shiraiyuki. These two weapons were passed down to the leaders of their district, with the names. Hisana smiled at her sister as she thrust the pure white pistol into Rukia's right hand. "Take good care of her." She said, smilling in the face of death. Byakuya gently put the pure black pistol into Rukia's left hand. "Give this one to the one you marry, but, hang on to it for a time." Rukia was bawling as Hisana kissed her forehead, and pressed the wall panel to send the ship to safety.

"HEY! BITCH-MIDGIT! WAKE UP! WE'VE GOT A JOB!" Yelled an obnoxious orange haired man from outside her door.

"I'M COMING YOU STUPID STRAWBERRY! AND DON'T CALL ME MIDGIT!."

Rukia yelled back.

"CAN YOU TWO BE ANY LOUDER!" Renji YELLED down the hall.

"PLEASE SHUT UP!" Hitsugaya shouted. "YOU'RE WAKING HINAMORI UP! SHE CAN HEAR YOU, AND SHE'S NEXT DOOR TO ME!"

Rukia smiled to herself, and picked up both guns as she walked to the door. Another day in the life of a mercenary, another day in with her strange, mismatched, NOISY, family.

* * *

There we go! Prolog done! I hope this doesn't suck! Also, I know that Byakuya is OOC, but, I think he only turned noble and prideful (fun word) after his love died, so, NO COMPLAINTS, I HUV EXPLAINEDZ! Please be honest, and tell me if this sucks, so I can either:

A) Make it better,

OR

B) Discontinue it.

It's your choice, now tell me please!

-Twilight Symphony


	2. Evening, CommisionerDon't own DarkNight

All right, I've decided to keep writing this story, and I don't care if I get reviews or not! But, the reviews are soo niicceee… stop it, you are not shallow! BUT THE REVIEWS! Sorry about that, anyway for the multiple choice question at the end of chapter 1, I was surprised that none of you picked secret option C) ALL OF THE ABOVE! (Disclaimer: I don't own the parody: Gears of Halo Theft Auto 5.)

Disclaimer: I Don't Own Bleach, or any other copyrighted materials that may appear.

* * *

As Rukia walked down the cold, steel hallway, a sudden jolt shook the ship she called home. The lights dimmed and she waited for a few minutes before they started again.

_This old thing really needs to be fixed up. _She thought as she continued down the hall. The ship, _BawaBawa, _was an old junker. They had gotten it when the mechanics, Pesche and Dodonchakka, joined their group. The two were escorts for Neliel Du Odverschvank (Nel.) who was quite honestly the best shot with heavy artillery that Rukia had ever seen. The two mechanics kept the ship in running order, and got them where they needed to go. Both the mechanics and the team are desperate for a new ship, but, the budget is tight enough as it is.

She walked onto the bridge, calmly gracefully, and surveyed her surroundings.

"ABOUT TIME!" Ichigo yelled as he launched his foot at her head. (Isshin is rubbing off on him LOL.)

She sidestepped and aimed a fist at his head, before a hand grabbed her arm.

Behind her stood the silent, mellow pilot, Sado Yasutora. He shook his head at her and she calmed down and grinned at him. "Chad" always calmed her down when Ichigo got to her.

"If you're about finished." A voice deadpanned across the room.

Ulquiorra Schiffer's poison gaze bore into Rukia's soul, and she felt herself shiver. No matter how much she worked with Ulquiorra, she could never get past the way he seemed to be able to see right into your mind, body and soul.

The effect off his gaze was lessened immensely by the bright and chipper medic, Orihime Inoue, who was talking Ulquiorra's ear off. How Orihime became friends with the standoffish ace, no one knew.

"Right." She said, and turned to the hologram in front of them where a striped green hat tilted slightly, and an eye peeked out from underneath.

"Ah, Miss Kuchiki, how are you this fine day?" Urahara Kisuke, their teams commissioner asked, the large hologram of his head smiling at her.

"Spare the pleasantries Urahara, who is it this time?" Rukia asked, not in the mood for exchanging words with their odd major employer.

Urahara's head vanished as a bio of the target appeared on the screen. Along with the picture of the target, there was information on his haunts, family connections (bounty hunters do what they must) and why he was wanted.

"Your target is Roku Jin, a corrupt medicines dealer. He started out with every doctor's ethics, and genuinely wanted to help people, I know because I was a colleague of his. But the, he began to buckle under the stress of losing patients, even if we did all we could. The last words I heard from him were when he left the Organization where we collaborated were: "They're all going to die anyway, so give them any extra time?"

"Enough with the reminiscing get on with it." Ishida said, growing impatient.

"Ah, sorry Ishida-san." Urahara said, waving his fan in front of his face.

"You see, I thought that was the last I heard of him, until I too, left the Organization." Urahara's face grew darker. "Through my underground connections, I heard that he began experimenting on humans, even with chemicals that he knew would kill them. The list of victims is huge, but, there's one case in particular that worries me." Urahara said, the list appearing on the screen. One name was highlighted, and then a file opened.

Ukitake Jushiro:

Age: 49

_Jushiro Ukitake was captured and presumably used in experiments by the still at large criminal, Roku Jin. Doctors have done all they can, but, they cannot reverse the effects of the testing that was preformed on him. The chemical used on Ukitake has caused severe internal hemorrhaging, and has created an incurable disease that will shorten the man's life by 30 years at least._

"Jin may have been many things, but, he was not a supporter of Bio Warfare. This disease that he tested on Ukitake-San is incurable, but, it is a small dose. I want you to find Jin, and, get him to stop this madness, and go into custody, or, kill him." Urahara said, his eyes hidden by the hat.

Suddenly his demeanor changed completely and he was smiling and waving that STUPID FAN! (I actually think the fan is cool, but, for the sake of the story…)

"Anyway, that's your mission, good luck!" Urahara said, and his face disappeared and the hologram read SIGNAL LOST.

Everyone was shocked, and then Renji broke the silence.

"You know, I thought I'd get used to that by now…"

Everyone sweatdropped.


	3. The Hunt Is On!

Disclaimer: I don't own Bleach, or any copyrighted materials that may appear.

Neon lights flashed around her as Rukia walked down the dusty polluted street of the city. Rukia hated it here; the skyscrapers made her feel claustrophobic. It was strange for a mercenary, but, nonetheless, she had to put up with it. She pulled her hood up and spoke into her radio transmitter, located on her arm.

"Yuki reporting, what's your status?" She said, waiting through the static, hoping for a response.

A garbled message came through the old tech, and she sighed with relief. "Clear in the skies Rukia, boy, you sounded worried." She could just picture Ichigo's smirking face in the seat of his black fighter, the Zangetsu.

"Shut up moron." She hissed underneath her breath, she would have yelled, but, it would have drawn attention.

"If I can break up this love call here, your target is leaving the building." Ishida said, reporting from his station at the top of the building across from Roku's.

"You'd best shut it too four-eyes." She said, growling at the mental image of Ishida pushing up his glasses while aiming his weapon at the building's door. (Think the bow from the soul society arc.)

"Just do your job Kuchiki." He said through the static.

Rukia sighed and plastered on a grin. She walked out of the alley, heading straight for the criminal. She fake tripped and bumped into him, before recoiling and saying a meek "I'm sorry."

"Watch where you're going!" He snapped, brushing past her and walking down the street. Rukia's smile was this time real, and she quietly spoke into her communicator after the criminal had faded into the distance.

"Micro tracker set."

* * *

They were back onboard the BawaBawa, which was orbiting the planet. They were all crowded around the hologram that showed the city's map. There was one flashing red dot inside one of the three dimensional transparent buildings. This was where they tracked Roku to.

"Now for the easy part." Renji said, leaning back and stretching his arms over his head.

"What, exactly, is easy about it?" Ulquiorra said, turning his gaze to Renji.

"Well, from here on out, we can just bomb the building with our ship, can't we." Renji said. "After pulling the civilians out of course."

"Even if we did pull them out, we wouldn't be able to hit that target with our fighters." Ichigo said. "One reason is that we want him alive, and the other is HOW THE HELL DO YOU THINK WE COULD PAY FOR THAT?!" The leader screamed.

"Urahara would pick up the price." Renji said, looking at the enraged man.

"Good luck squeezing any money out of that miser, the most we'll be getting is our pay for this job, and that's not much." Rukia said, looking at her friend.

The group continued to bicker until the dot began to move again.

"It's probably one of his "experiments." Chad said, showing his disgust.

* * *

Ulquiorra ran down one of the streets, dodging people and other obstructions. He made a left at one of the crossroads, and then a right. The alleys of this city were a virtual maze, but, Ulquiorra had a fine sense of direction. He finally made it to the alley where the tracker was on his map. He stepped into it, shadows covering most of his sight, His eyes widened as he spotted the tracker, hooked up to a metal box with wires poking out of it. He jumped back and turned the corner, just in time to avoid the wall of flame that just ingulfed the alley. He grimaced, one of his arms had been grazed by the bomb's blast. He lifted it with much difficulty. There was hardly any skin left on it, but, it seemed to be intact otherwise. He stood up, swaying as he made his way to the extraction point. Orihime could fix him up.

* * *

The man ran; breathe hitching as he tried desperately to escape. The alley he was running through was suddenly cut off by a solid wall. He backed up against it, and looked for a way out. A needle whizzed by his head and impaled itself in the brick in front of him. His eyes glanced at it for a second, and then a hand closed around his neck. He was lifted off the floor and his throat felt like it was stretching. He was certain his time had come, until a voice came from behind his assailant.

"Roku Jin, I hear you like killing people. That's good, because the folks down at the Punishment Bureau do too." Ichigo said, smirking to himself as he aimed an energy rifle at the back of the tall man's head. Rukia rolled her eyes at Ichigo's corny line, and drew Sode no Shiraiyuki, the white pistol glistening in the orange daylight.

Roku smirked, revealing animalistic canines. "Just how exactly did you know where I would be?" He said, looking at Ichigo. "Leader's intuition." Ichigo replied, grinning back at the tall man. "So you sacrificed your teammate to catch me? I'm flattered." The man said. "We hardly sacrificed him, Ulquiorra can take care of himself, and Orihime can patch up almost any wound. It's not him you should be worrying about though.." Ichigo said, raising the rifle in his right hand.

"It's you!" He said, firing a neon blue shot from the black rifle's tip.

* * *

There we go! Chapter 3! Sorry that it's short, but, my head is killing me, so I decided that I'd continue it in the next chapter. All I've got left to update is A Dark Blade, and I've got the rest of the night to do that. I hope you liked this one! I'll keep writing, so stay tuned! Wow, saying that feels great!


	4. Six Flowers Save Three

Hi everybody! I'm sorry it took so long, but, here it is, my (extremely late) holiday update, and the last chapter for this story for 2009…probably.

Disclaimer: I don't own Bleach or any other copyrighted material that may appear.

* * *

The bright blue shot from Ichigo's rifle whizzed towards Roku's head faster than the human eye could see. The stun blast was meant to hit Roku in the head, knocking him out for a couple of hours. Instead, it hit the wall behind him as Roku jerked his head too the right.

"What the…" Ichigo gasped and looked at Roku's eyes.

They were bright yellow, and slitted, like those of a reptile.

Ichigo was sent flying as a huge fist crashed into his ribs. Three cracks echoed as they snapped. Roku retracted his arm, which had grown three times the size of a bodybuilder's, and punched straight through a brick wall.

_Shit. _Rukia cursed mentally as she fired a blast from Sode no Shiraiyuki, intending for it to freeze the criminal. Roku dodged and weaved towards her, before grabbing her arm and crushing the bones inside it. Rukia screamed, before drawing Senbonzakura with her other hand and firing it a close ranged towards the criminal.

Senbonzakura was truly a unique weapon. When fired its shot ricochets around in the air, causing one shot to become ten. The shots then converge on the original target. It is one of the few remaining relics of the Fubuki people's technological advancement, along with Sode no Shiraiyuki, and a few others. Rukia fired a shot at close range, which, even if the gun was set to stun, had a high chance to put people in a coma, or kill them.

This was not the case with Roku Jin.

He growled at her, before throwing her over one shoulder, and running through the hole he had made in the brick wall. Rukia crashed onto the ground and was left gasping for air. The man who was Roku's former victim had fainted from fright quite a while ago. Rukia clutched her arm, and then turned to look at Ichigo. He was slumped against a wall, blood pouring from his body and mouth. Rukia pressed the emergency tracker on her communicator, and hoped for rescue.

* * *

Blood covered her hands as Orihime bandaged Ulquiorra's wound desperately. He had been pulled out, as he couldn't fly his ship, and got to the BawaBawa in record time, but, doing so made his wounds open wider and severely worse. When Rukia and Ichigo were wheeled in, she was already panicked from the state of her other teammate. With two more, she was overwhelmed. The wounds Roku inflicted were deep, and, she didn't have the supplies to heal them all at once. She sighed, and then a look of grim determination swept over her features. She walked to the rusty (like most of the starship) intercom and contacted Chad. "Take us down please Chad. What I'm going to use will take most of our ships power supply, but it will save them." She said, before quickly moving to the computer terminal in the center of the med bay.

A little known fact about the BawaBawa is that it, while being an old Junker, contained a few special pieces of equipment that they had purchased over the years. Orihime had always feared that one day, her teammates would be too injured for her to heal all at once, and so, she had asked the rest of the team to take on a few extra jobs to help her prepare for that situation. After a great many bounties, they had finally worked p enough money to get the _Shun Shun Rika, _A high speed recovery chamber. By saturating the body in energy, the machine activated the regeneration tendencies in select cells, and caused the body to grow back and heal at high speeds.

Orihime wheeled the three wounded towards the large chamber, where the systems were already powering up. She placed them on separate gurneys, and walked to the platform where the control screens waited. She quickly set the program and waited. The thin, three dimensional hologram beeped and whizzed, before the patients were lowered into the chamber, and watched as the glass closed around her friends.

_Please let this work._

Orihime held her ground as the energy poured into the now enclosed chamber where her friends lay. It enveloped them, and she pulled up their vitals on her monitor.

The three bodies were slowly regenerating. Ichigo's fractured ribs and nearly non-existent lung were slowly mending themselves. The muscles in Rukia's arm, which was nearly bent out of recognition, started to weave and connect together again. Ulquiorra's burns started to reverse as the glossy substance that coated them began to recede back into his pale skin. Orihime was relieved, but, stayed vigilant as more energy poured into the chamber.

Chad's voice came over the intercom.

"Orihime, we've rerouted all excess energy to you. We've only got enough to keep life support and lighting going here. Please hurry."

"It's almost done." The medic said, watching in fascination as her friends crippled, barely alive bodies began to move normally again.

The screen in front of her flashed green, and Orihime pressed in the shut down command. The golden light in the chamber faded, and she ran down to her friends, who were beginning to awaken.

* * *

"So that's what happened." Ichigo said. He was coveredin bandages, but, he was already planning their next move.

"Now Jin will be expecting us." Rukia said, shaking her head in disappointment. She was extremely lucky that they had found Sode no Shirayuki when they had rescued her.

"It least we got everyone out alive." Hitsugaya said. "The next time I see Urahara I'm going to…" Histugaya began, before Ichigo's hand silenced him.

"We aren't going to do anything. Kisuke didn't know what was waiting for us, we shouldn't blame him."

"He didn't know that the guy he was chasing was experimenting with animal/human DNA splicing?" Grimmjow scoffed, rolling his eyes.

"For once, I agree with Grimmjow. We should leave, we aren't being payed for this kind of work." Ulquiorra said, cold logic in his voice.

Ichigo was silent for a moment, and then smirked.

"We've never quit a job before. I think all we have to do is change our tactics a bit." He said, a plan brewing in his mind.

* * *

There we go. Hope you all had happy holidays! I GOT A COMPUTER IN MY ROOM BABY! It's our old computer, so, even if it's really slow, I STILL HAVE A COMPUTER! We're going to delete most of the homework files my mom had on it, because she VERY RARELY deletes anything. But still, TWILIGHTSYMPHONY FOR THE WIN!

-Twilight Symphony.


End file.
